A 101-year-old woman known as "pocket rocket" has died. She lived a colourful life in Leeds - known for her singing, surviving war, and her dedication to her community.
Anita Woolman, who lived in Sandmoor Chase in Moortown, Leeds, was said by many to have made a great impact on all those who met her. She died on Friday July 8.
Her life began in Leeds with parents Abraham and Fanny Steingberg, where she was raised as a proud Jew. She attended Roundhay High School in Old Park Road, and went on to study at the University of Leeds, gaining a degree in social sciences.
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Her ambition to study caused controversy in her household; it went against her father's traditional wishes. She starting studying when World War Two broke out in 1939. But she tried to focus on what she loved and soon took the lead in university reviews.
A few years later she met husband-to-be Sydney. The couple married in 1948 and Anita was said to be passionate about family life.
Sydney ran a family firm involved in cinema and theatre lighting, and later importing children’s toys. In 1950 the couple welcomed son Andrew and daughter Susan.
Andrew went on to become a well known judge at Preston Crown Court. For his very first case he earned the princely sum of £5 about a political sex scandal which rocked the country. Late government minister, Lord Lambton, had been secretly photographed smoking cannabis in bed with two prostitutes.
He followed in the footsteps of mum Anita went on to become a magistrate and councillor. She was a member of the Transport Users Consultative Council - one of the great successes of that body was to preserve the Settle to Carlisle railway line.
The working mum, who later welcomed five grandchildren and four great-grandchildren, was also on the Community Health Council. She raised £685,000 for Leeds General Infirmary. The money was used to buy the first MRI scanner in Leeds.
Later Anita was a Justice of the Peace and then she stood for election to the Leeds City Council. The Leeds resident was also committed to giving back to the Jewish community.
She was part of WIZO, Blue and White Bazaar and the Leeds Jewish Women's Luncheon Club, and many more. Anita went on to become chairman of the Blanche Dugdale WIZO.
She was also company director of family retail business Woolbro (Estates) Limited. The company was founded in 1935 and went on to have over £2M in assets.
Aside from her amazing career Anita was known for her love of singing and playing the piano. She became a trustee of the Leeds International Piano Competition, founded by Dame Fanny Waterman.
She went to a Piano Competition function in Downing Street where she was introduced to Alan Bennett. Speaking to the Jewish Telegraph her family said that everyone knew Anita as a lady.
She loved clothes and getting dressed up. Her family added that nobody saw her without full make-up, smartly dressed, and her hair done.
She went to the hairdressers every Friday even including the Friday before she died. Anita always had her best jewels on too. "Even if it was just the gas man coming to read the meter, he wasn’t allowed in till she was properly dressed to receive a visitor."
Her favourite shop was Marks and Spencer in Moortown, where staff used to say: "Here comes the Queen Mother."
She told the Jewish Telegraph on her 100th birthday that the secret to a long life was not drinking or smoking and having been "very lucky with my supportive family".
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